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Wednesday, 21 November 2018

CHRISTMAS: How to Make Toy Shopping for Children Easier

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When it comes to Christmas shopping for children it can be a challenge to know which toys will appeal to them, actually be used and create lots of fun memories. This is why Fundamentally Children have created The Christmas Good Toy Guide 2018 Edition, which is filled with gifts for all ages and interests. Fundamentally Children is the home of The Good Toy Guide; a place where an independent team try and test a range of toys, so that they can share how long-lasting, age-appropriate, good for learning and development and, most importantly, fun they are! This year they have put together a guide just for Christmas, with the aim of making our shopping experience that bit easier. Parents and children can browse The Christmas Good Toy Guide 2018 here; let the wish list writing commence.

All of the toys that are tested by a team of adults and children are rated based on their level of fun, skills development and ease of use. Each score is out of five allowing you to quickly see which toys are worth the money. In The Christmas Good Toy Guide you'll also find a range of money saving tips, how to achieve a balanced Play Diet, reducing waste this Christmas, a wish list template, road trip boredom-busters and the top five apps of 2018. A simple trick that really stands out within the guide is the way to approach present buying for children. It is based around these four areas for gifts:

Something they want

Something they need

Something to wear

Something to read

It's such a clever idea and the perfect way to keep spending down, yet still fulfilling children's wish lists. To find out more about it head over to the guide online.

The Christmas Good Toy Guide starts with gifts for 0 to 2 years, including Lamaze Spin & Explore Garden Gym, Baby's Very First Book - Faces, Bubabloon, Indigo Jamm Wooden Heart Pram, Muro Cube, Brio Farm Play Set and Mini Micro 3in1. All of the toys come with a short description, price tag based on 'under £20', 'under £50' or 'over £50' and the ratings of fun, skills development and ease of use.

The toys for 3 to 5 years include one of our personal favourites, the Little Brian Paint Sticks - 24 Pack; I can't recommend them enough. Mess-free painting, so versatile and they have five out of five on fun and ease of use within the guide. This section also includes Sands Alive Castle Set, Orchard Toys Giant Road Jigsaw, Plan Toy Crane Set, Le Toy Van Card Machine, Fiesta Crafts ABC Bus, Toomies Foam Cone Factory and Mini Micro Scooter.

On to toys for 6 to 8 years, which is an exciting glimpse into the future for our family and includes many brands I remember from my childhood! Some of my favourites from this section are Playmobil Children's Playground, Gearphun Starter 200 Set, Numbalee, Learning Resources Playfoam and Smart Games Penguins on Ice.

The final section of the guide is toys for 9 years and up, which has lots of games including: Crazy Aaron's Mixed by Me Thinking Putty Kit, Wordstacker, Beasts of Balance, Twiddle, Hot Wheels Drx Monster X-Terrain Drone and Osmo. As you can see, something for all ages so don't forget to check out The Christmas Good Toy Guide 2018 before Christmas shopping this year.

I have my two boys and three nieces to buy for. We tend to keep it small and simple at Christmas though, as three of the kids have their birthdays in November and one in early December, so we tend to give bigger presents for their birthdays instead. My boys get so many presents from grandparents, aunts and uncles, I usually just end up getting them books (which they ALWAYS get) and a couple stocking fillers.

I love the idea of breaking down their list into 4 seperate ideas and this guide really does make it easier. The mess free paints would be a win in our household as my daughter loves arts and crafts but I'm not a fan of the amount of washing afterwards

I'm going to have to get this guide as I really need help with the children this year. I've absolutely no idea what to get them. I love the idea of the 'something to...' I think I might have to start that this year as mine get far too much and I really need to cut back.

This sounds like a great idea. I find it impossible to get an idea on what to buy our son so often guess. Having a book like this would be a big help. Kinda like the Argos catalogue when I was younger only better!

Love this - we started doing the something to wear, watch, eat, play with, read etc this year and it has made SUCH a difference. Our kids are already so lucky and have everything - so this way, it's things they'll actually use and enjoy.

Christmas shopping is tricky for children, they already have what they want most of the time and sometimes what you buy them just ends up shoved in the back of the cupboard three or four days later. I love the something they want, something they need etc premis - I’ll do that for my kids this year.